


..Be Scarier

by Zaorliel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Gen, John Winchester’s A+ parenting, Oneshot, POV Sam Winchester, Pre-Canon, Teen!Dean, Weechesters, and canon-typical suggestions of childhood trauma, bros being bros, but nothing detailed or extremely troubling for the characters, child!sam - Freeform, kids being kids, some reference to, wholesome as homemade pie, woodland animal friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:08:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26664193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zaorliel/pseuds/Zaorliel
Summary: While exploring the woods, Dean makes a new four-legged friend.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	..Be Scarier

**Author's Note:**

> The title’s kind of lame for this, as it doesn’t really fit most of the plot, but it’s from the Disney quote:
> 
> “If you’re scared, just be scarier than whatever is scaring you!” 
> 
> which becomes relevant later in the story and I think it suits the Winchester brothers nicely.

The mid-fall sun set low behind trees, painting pink and orange clouds above.

Below, a little boy, with brown floppy hair and oversized clothes, ventured cautiously between these trees and headed further into the woods.

Only once the boy was about a half-mile from the public foot path did he notice he could no longer hear traffic from the highway behind.

He stood still for a moment.

Sunlight flooded every gap in the thick wilderness to surround him. He found comfort in the falling red and gold leaves that crunched under his feet, but the temperature would drop soon. He had to keep going.

A bird glided above the boy’s head and squawked. He looked up in time to see the creature’s huge grey wings, but it landed in a tree too soon for the kid to identify it.

Sam had only lived in this town for a month and he was already wandering alone in a creepy forest, searching for Dean.

Thinking of how unfair yet painfully familiar this moment seemed, Sam tugged on the collar of his blue plaid shirt, one he’d borrowed from his big brother that morning, and pulled it snug over his shoulders.

He knew forests like this were never safe after dark. Not because of the bears and wolves that lived there. Certainly not because Sam was afraid of strangers that might lurk in hidden cabins or sit in trees with guns, silently waiting for an unsuspecting prey.

Kids his age were told to be weary of strangers, and that made Sam smile. Unlike his school mates, Sam knew there were far worse things out there than people.

Things he wished he didn’t know actually existed.

(The dark is where werewolves and vampires and ghouls live, as well as half a dozen other creatures that are much, much worse.)

It’s OK, though. Sam was safe.

His father and brother hunted these creatures. To protect Sam and the rest of the whole world. They were superheroes and he knew that as long as Dean was by his side, nothing bad would ever happen to him. Not even in these strange creepy woods. 

Sam also knew that he was lost; and Dean was somewhere else right now, in this vast overgrown park, along with their only compass and gun loaded with silver bullets.

Sam had a flask of holy water, held tight in his left hand. That was all. He needed to move faster. _‘Find Dean and get home before dark’_ was his mantra as he boldly strode on.

Dean was supposed to be at his side!

The younger Winchester climbed over fallen branches and through clusters of nettles. Clambering deeper and deeper into the forest. Constantly glancing up at the setting sun, he saw his mission as a race against time.

Losing wasn’t an option.

“Dean?” Sam called out to the wildness. “Where’d you go? This isn’t funny!” His voice trembled more than he willed it to. He blamed it on the cold air and cussed himself in his thoughts. “Dad said, if we go into the woods we have to stay on the path!”

A scream built up in his chest. He wouldn’t let it out.

He wasn’t scared, he was angry at Dean for leaving him.

He wasn’t scared.

Dean was supposed to be at his side!

Dean had never left Sam on his own for this long before. How could he disappear?!

Nearby critters froze in their path to not spook the shouting human boy. As if Sam was the dangerous one. He inhaled sharply.

“I don’t like this, Dean!” Little Sam called again, now with tears darkening his amber eyes.

He took the extra fabric of his right shirt sleeve and wrapped it over his knuckles to wipe his face with. His hands we’re getting cold. Determined, he continued walking.

“Dean?!”

  
A crunch. A snap of a twig under a heavy boot. A shadow.

Up ahead stood a figure. The sun was in front of Sam now but he could make out the outlines of a man. Maybe a teen, the person stood on the path with his hands in his jacket pockets and his head tilted down. Sam froze. 

“Sammy, what you doing? Come on!” Dean called in hushed urgency. He stretched an open hand out towards Sam, like a parent of a preschooler waiting to cross the road. 

“Dean!” Sam sprinted the distance between himself and his brother.

When he got there, Sam ignored the impatient gesture and opted to swing his arms around Deans neck instead. The teenager reciprocated the hug briefly, with a tight grip on Sam’s waist, than patted the kid on the shoulder. Sam stood up straight.

His face beamed as he dabbed the tears from his cheek one last time.

“Dean, Dad said we couldn’t-“ he matched Dean’s quiet tone. Though he didn’t understand why, he trusted his brother had reason.

“Yeah, I know, but you’ve got to see this!” Dean dismissed everything Sam had practiced saying in one flash of a second, first by taking the flask of holy water Sam had been clinging to, like it was nothing important, and stuffing it in his jacket pocket, and then grabbing Sam’s sleeve and pulling him further into the woods.

Sam followed obediently but continued to complain about wanting to go back to their motel.

  
Just because Dean was confident in his abilities to kill everything and protect the two of them, Sam wasn’t so. Sam was still very new to the whole “truth” thing but it was logical to him that if vampires and ghosts were real, there was definitely room for something that he, Dean, or even their father, might not be prepared for.

In another attempt to turn around, he told Dean about the ice cream van parked on the nearest road.

“I’m hungry. Please-”

“Sam! For one minute, just shut up!” Dean finally snapped in another loud whisper, but he stopped walking.

Sam looked down, then around at where they had stopped. Where Dean had brought him to was probably the place Dean had been this whole time. It appeared exactly like everywhere else in the forest. He frowned.

When Sam looked down again, Dean was crouching on one knee in front of him.

“Look!” Dean said quietly, turning away.

Sam couldn’t see anything but he copied. They knelt on the slightly damp soil, side by side, and Sam followed Dean’s line of sight.

Mere meters away from the boys, something moved in the long grass.

“Shhh. Don’t move.” Dean patronised and Sam scowled, but remained still and silent anyway. 

Then, emerging from behind a wild bush, onto the patch were the children were waiting: a large, floppy eared, brown rabbit hopped towards them.

“Awww.” Sam said softly.

The rabbit paused, twitching it’s nose, and took two more short hops forwards.

“I think it’s a boy.” Dean said, based on no knowledge at all.

“Can we keep him? Please?”

“No. Can’t take him home, he’s wild. And Dad won’t let us….”

He didn’t need to finish his sentence. Sam knew.

They watched the rabbit for a while longer.

Dean whispered again, declaring, “His name’s Thumper.”

“Er.. That’s depressing.” Sam protested, flatly, and a little too loud. 

The rabbit froze. Stomped one back leg. The boys froze and watched, both expected it to run away. It didn’t. Just took a moment to adjust, then carried on eating the grass.

“Shut up. Don’t offend him.” Dean warned his annoying little brother, “I found him. I should get to name him. And I want to call him Thumper.”

Dean slowly reached his arm out towards the bunny. He made gentle and slow movements. Thumper might have been about to let Dean stroke him when Sam spoke a bit too loudly again,

“Well it’s stupid, he’s not even grey! I’m gonna call him Peter instead.”

“Sam?!” Dean whined, “You scared him! Why you gotta be such a bitch for?” Dean was clearly pissed off and Sam watched with something akin to awe.

“I didn’t mean to, Dean..”

“Whatever!” Still mad, but not quite understanding why anymore, Dean grabbed Sam’s sleeve and started marching in the direction of the highway. “Let’s go home.”

**Author's Note:**

> There’s absolutely nothing wrong with naming a bunny ‘Thumper’ (regardless of colour, it’s an adorable name!) or anything else for that matter! That’s just what I think is the petty kind of thing these kids would get into arguments about haha!
> 
> This was all really just me Not (/s) looking too deep into the parallels of Sam and Dean / Bambi :))
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> I’m thinking about maybe writing some more in this style? Or making a series about childhood!S&D adventures ..it’s nice to make them happy and innocent occasionally haha! If you want me to, feel free to let me know. I’ve got some ideas


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